BLLAHWU urges gov’t to resuscitate PSBC
● Resuscitation of PSBC long overdue Kesebonye
● Gov’t will resuscitate PSBC - DPSM deputy director
● Masisi should walk the talk - Motshegwa
● Gov’t owes workers P1.8 billion
FRANCISTOWN: Calls for the resuscitation of the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC) rang loud during the recent triennial congress of the Botswana Land Board and Local Authorities and Health Workers Union (BLLAHWU).
When delivering an address during the congress, BLLAHWU president, Thatayaone Kesebonye said the revival of the PSBC was long overdue.
Kesebonye stated that the PSBC is the only legal structure that the employer and trade unions can use to discuss issues of workers’ interests.
The dormancy of the PSBC, Kesebonye noted does not bode well for the interests of the workers and as such the structure should be urgently revived.
“The government of Botswana is not taking the interests of workers seriously. Since 2019, we have seen zero implementation of recommendations of the Malaysian private consultancy firm, Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) Associates report yet the government through the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) spent more than P24 million hiring the firm. More than five years have passed since the PBSC deregistered after it collapsed,” said a displeased Kesebonye.
“The PSBC is a creature of the Public Service Act, but the government does not want to resuscitate it. Issues affecting workers and employees should be ventilated at the right platform, which is the PSBC. Salary negotiations cannot be negotiated using backdoor channels but only duly constituted channels.”
In response to what Kesebonye had said, deputy director of DPSM, Dr Omponye Kereteletswe said government acknowledges that the dysfunctioning of the PSBC is causing some differences between the employer and union.
Kereteletswe further explained that the government has narrowed its differences with the 6 Cooperating Trade Unions (6CTU) to almost zero. The 6CTU are BLLAHWU, BOSETU, Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU), Botswana Nurses Union (BONU) and National Amalgamated Local & Central Government Parastatal Workers Union (NALCGPWU).
However, Kereteletswe noted that the government is still having some differences with three other unions, Botswana Doctors Union (BDU), Botswana Government Workers Union (BOGOWU) and Trainers and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) over quorum forming amongst other issues.
If everything goes according to plan, Kereteletswe anticipates that the PSBC should be up and running by
2025. “The issue of resuscitating the PSBC concerns the government very much. We are pleading with the unions that the spirit of give and take should prevail during our negotiations in order to bring this issue to its logical conclusion for the benefit of all parties concerned,” an optimistic Kereteletswe pleaded.
Kereteletswe also told the congress that the government is very much aware that it owes some workers across all ministries P1.8 billion but the money will soon be paid since it has been budgeted for.
However, vice president of the Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU), Mogomotsi Motshegwa expressed doubt on the delay in reviving the PSBC.
Motshegwa, who is also the publicity secretary of the Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU), to which BLLAHWU is an affiliate, said it was important to put the issue of the resuscitation of the PSBC in its proper perspective in order to clear any misconceptions about why the structure is not functioning now.
He reminded Kereteletswe that in 2019 during the International Labour Day celebrations in Francistown, President Mokgweetsi Masisi promised the unions that he would make sure that the PSBC was resuscitated within three months.
Motshegwa said many years have passed since Masisi made that promise but nothing has happened.
The outspoken unionist then challenged Masisi to walk the talk about resuscitating the PSBC adding that the government should not blame unions for the delay in resuscitating the PSBC.
During the Labour Day commemoration in 2021, Masisi also reiterated the government’s desire to operationalise the PSBC but to no avail.
This situation has caused unions and some people to say that there is no political will to resuscitate the PSBC.
Masisi said in 2021: “I am reliably informed that despite the plethora of past challenges and obstacles, there is hope for the revival of the PSBC.”
The President added that the DPSM and unions had been engaging each other in the spirit of mutual respect and good faith under the guidance of a mutually agreed upon independent facilitator.
Masisi indicated that the parties had resolved to seek expert advice from the ILO to address outstanding issues in order to complete the task of resuscitating the council.
“Moreover, the ongoing review of our labour laws such as the Employment Act, the Public Service Act and the Trade Disputes Act, to align them with international labour standards, will go a long way in creating decent work for our people. This will also pave the way to effectively address issues such as fair income, equal opportunities for both men and women in the workplace, security and protection in the workplace,” he added.